i think you guys are reading too much into this.
This is a practice prevalent all across asia including China and Japan which were never really colonized.
Probably more to do with an asian tendency to accord respect with age which is less prevalent in the west.
While I won’t say one is better than the other, i really dont think it has anything to do with a master/slave mentality
e.g. The japanese in fact take it a lot more seriously than we do - In India, esp urban parts, it is mostly fine to talk to people in the office (or elsewhere) on a first name basis. But do not try address a Japanese client without an honorific Saan with the name 
The chinese are kind of somewhere in between where the use of honorifics is prevalent but not mandatory
